Book Reviews
Posted on 26 August 2010
Reviewed by: Roger Coode
The Walk; Stephen Smallman. Price £8.99
This is simply the best book of its kind that I have read for years. Its subtitle is: “Steps for new and renewed followers of Jesus” or, as the author refers to it, “Discipleship for Dummies”. But this is far from being a dumbed down book! His key point is that “growth as a follower of Jesus doesn’t mean somehow graduating from the gospel for some higher teaching”. And how much we need to hear that! The book contains step by step teaching on how to move from a vague interest in Jesus, to becoming and remaining His disciple. It presumes no prior knowledge and contains commonsense, practical guidance on “The Walk” – no author’s hobbyhorses, just scripturally based comment and advice, underpinned by forty years in pastoral ministry. Smallman writes that he tried to “write a guidebook, not a ‘fact’ book” and he has succeeded superbly. This book is ideal for individual or group use and deserves the widest possible readership.
Posted on 29 March 2009
Reviewed by: Amy Daws
Finding Faith: A Self-Discovery Guide for Your Spiritual Quest
It is rare to see such an inclusive and welcoming resource for exploring questions of faith. To the atheist for example, this book speaks only love and respect, whilst in effect saying, “Although I can understand why you’ve arrived at your conclusions, may I share with you why atheism didn’t work for me and how I ended up a Christian?”
User Friendly
Brian calls this book a “self-discovery guide” – which I think could mean that through it, you discover yourself, or that through it, you discover for yourself what you really believe. He starts off by telling you what sort of people he thinks will find the book useful (almost anyone could fit into one of the categories he mentions, as long as they are the inquisitive sort). He encourages you to skip around the book as you see fit, and he starts off each chapter by letting you know what it will address and what sort of a person will be most interested in it. The chapters are grouped into the five main parts of the book, so you can easily decide which best deals with your current thinking.
Simple Language
Brian is an excellent writer, but he won’t try to impress you with big words. Rather, he takes the questions that have been lurking in your mind (or your neighbour’s, or your husband’s, or your workmate’s) and puts them into layman’s terms. Then, once he’s managed to put complex questions into words, he unpacks them and helps you think through how to go about looking for sensible answers. He helps you explore who God really is, why there are so many religions, and how to deal with doubts.
The Author’s Own Comments
When the book first came out, Brian wrote comments on the Amazon website, including a mention of a Christian churchgoer who was so offended by this book, he decided to read it again!! On the second read, he realised that what had offended him was the lack of Christian jargon with which he had always been so comfortable. He also realised that that jargon was exactly what would put off a spiritual seeker. Brian went on to say that as he wrote Finding Faith, he sent out manuscripts to some of his friends who were atheists, agnostics, or otherwise turned off by church, Christianity, etc. They not only gave him a lot of helpful feedback but also said that for the first time, they could see why an intelligent person would seek faith and seek God….
An Excellent Tool
If you have questions of faith, or if you are a person of faith whose loved one cannot understand why you believe in God, this book is an excellent tool. It is also a valuable resource for small group study, as the chapters come with discussion questions.
Finding Faith is available from amazon.co.uk and has also been expanded into two volumes entitled A Search for What is Real (Finding Faith) and A Search for What Makes Sense (Finding Faith). The latter titles will provide a more in-depth exploration of the topics and are available at the church bookstall.